Pennsylvania's proposed package of 23 new child abuse laws is creating confusion.

The laws went into effect this year, but few seem to understand the scope and specifics of the overhaul, something made apparent at a recent session on the topic.Apparently, the laws are still being tweaked."Still a very fluid process," is how state Rep. Doyle Heffley described the situation.Causing additional confusion is a new requirement that adult volunteers working with children must have a background check through the Pennsylvania State Police.The process somehow will generate a Child Abuse History Clearance report costing $10. All kinds of questions abound.Who is responsible to obtain the report? Who pays for it? Would an existing clearance from a paid job satisfy the requirement?Lansford Councilwoman Rosemary Cannon is looking for answers because she'd like to know if community pool lifeguards are required to have the clearances."I don't know how anybody can be checking this yet," she said. "It doesn't seem like they have all their ducks in a row."Cannon finds the current atmosphere foggy. And so do we.Many want to comply with the new rules but simply don't know if they apply or how to do it.It's no secret these changes are spawned by the Penn State-Jerry Sandusky child molestation cases.Sandusky is the former assistant football coach convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys. He's currently serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence even though he maintains his innocence.Some feel Sandusky's reign of terror might not have happened if a background check had been in effect during the decade or more when Sandusky was on the prowl. But let's not kid ourselves.In Sandusky's case, victims and their families tried early on to blow the whistle. But nobody would pay attention.Sandusky was too powerful and too respected to warrant a full investigation.Could it happen again? Yes, of course.We'd be naive to think otherwise.If it came down to the word of a nationally known football coach versus a 10-year-old boy, guess which one would hold sway? Yes, a football coach can be a child predator, and so can anybody else.That's why we need sweeping reforms and a whole new attitude toward child abuse. And we need more than a $10 form to make a difference. We need greater awareness and sustained public outrage.We implore lawmakers to set specific, clear-cut guidelines and to establish effective procedures to protect children.We've witnessed an era when the roar of college football was allowed to drown out the cries of young, innocent boys being ravaged in university locker rooms.Let's not forget it.All youngsters in Pennsylvania deserve to be protected in a way that isn't the least bit foggy. Lawmakers owe it to children to get it done and get it done right.By DONALD R. SERFASSdserfass@tnonline.com